


Bolide

by BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk



Category: Dream SMP - Fandom, Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Arguably an Attempted Examination of the Canon Life System in the Dream SMP, Character Study, Contains Personal Headcanons, Death, Gen, May or May Not Get Philosophical (If That is the Right Word), Resurrection, Villain Jack Manifold
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,140
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29244741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk/pseuds/BeatrixGtheMaskedDogNoobsomeExagerjunk
Summary: What could Jack Manifold have to give up at the cost of being able to come back andbreatheagain, to express the right to be angry and burn ablaze again?For the eighteen-year-old boy who was said to have died that Doomsdaydiedon Doomsday.For he who walks again, with scars that burn, with fiery eyes, and a blazing desire for vengeance isnotthat same eighteen-year-old boy.What is there now is a creature of origins distorted into something unknown, incapable of perishing until his thirst is quenched, until his tasks are fulfilled, until the forces that bring life to the world can say with absolute certainty that he isfinished.
Relationships: Jack Manifold & Niki | Nihachu
Comments: 10
Kudos: 62





	Bolide

**Author's Note:**

> bolide  
> bo·lide  
> /ˈbōlīd,ˈbōləd/  
> noun
> 
> a large meteor which explodes in the atmosphere.

Coming back to life was a very painful task.

Jack Manifold, eighteen and explosive, always woke up to aching bones and wounds that never seemed to stop stinging. It’s another reminder that he has all the time in the world.

It's time he knew he should stop wasting.

Snowchester had the right amount of cold to cool Jack down; it was very cozy.

Jack sometimes stared at himself vainly in the coat of the commune. It hid his fire well, repressing the warmth that could literally burn the wooden houses of the place poor Tubbo worked so hard on.

He always forgot he wasn’t quite human. Sure, he’s still some dude, but he’s also some dude _who was dead at one point_. Jack never quite got used to being spooked by the lack of life in his eyes. I’d say it’s like Eret’s, but without that mythical, haunting glow a King ought to have. It’s plain, dull, but also clearly on fire. If he cried, the tears would fly up like the heat from a furnace. The effect made his supernaturally lit glasses glow a little.

Jack placed his glasses back on after admiring his person, walking out to get some potatoes.

Foolish was an okay neighbor, Jack knew that well. He was very friendly and responded well to jokes and banter. He even let Captain Puffy adopt him. If Niki’s words about Puffy were of any indication, he concluded they were good people.

Jack, however, knew that whenever the totem looked at him, the glimmer of his literally emerald eyes implied something more. Tubbo spoke to him once about what he heard of Foolish, of the idea that he was the god of all totems, of youth, and the powers of genuine undying.

He didn't doubt the word about the newbie at all. The desert builds were proof of divinity in Jack's eyes.

“You’ve got some dye I could borrow? Green dye?” The so-called totem god asked him, about to pick berries from Ranboo’s haphazardly-grown berry farm nearby.

“Sorry, I don’t got any. You could try asking Tubbo,”

“Thanks,” Foolish nodded, the glimmer of his eyes still unsettling him.

Before Foolish could leave, Jack had to feed his curiosity.

"Is it true that you can bring people back to life?"

Foolish turned around, swallowing some of the picked-up berries he had chosen to eat, "Sure."

Jack blinked at the totem's casual tone.

"I heard about what you did, if you're gonna ask about that," Foolish continued.

"What I did?"

"Bringing yourself back." He then ate more berries, continuing with his mouth full, "Not many people can pull that off."

Jack thought of Wilbur. Then he thought of Schlatt.

"I've noticed."

"Hm," Foolish swallowed, "you do know the consequences of that right? Of-of, of coming back?"

"What'd you mean-"

"Of coming back with that, uh what do you call-with _that kind of will?_ " Foolish neared Jack, "Cause that's kinda proof of what you lost, you know?"

"What I lost to come back?"

"Yeah," The god glanced around, facing the nearby prison, "If I remember correctly, the forces that be are kinda demanding. For one life, you get devastation that is equally important, right?"

Jack considered the god's words carefully.

All he's ever known was devastation.

Foolish faced Jack again, "Aren't you sad about giving up what you had to give up?"

What could Jack Manifold have to give up at the cost of being able to come back and _breathe_ again, to express the right to be angry and burn ablaze again?

For the eighteen-year-old boy who was said to have died that Doomsday _died_ on Doomsday.

For he who walks again, with scars that burn, with fiery eyes, and a blazing desire for vengeance is _not_ that same eighteen-year-old boy.

What is there now is a creature of origins distorted into something unknown, incapable of perishing until his thirst is quenched, until his tasks are fulfilled, until the forces that bring life to the world can say with absolute certainty that he is _finished_.

"I..."

"I hope not, Jack." The totem's unmoving face nonetheless expressed concern. A show of his benevolence.

"I honestly don't know what to feel. Actually, I feel nothing about it."

The totem's eyes glimmered again, "So that's what you gave up, huh?"

Jack stepped back in fear, "What the fuck does that mean?"

"Oh, nothing nothing. Dunno if you got it, but I think reminding you, y'know, of what that is, well...it's neither in our best interests."

That was the last of their conversation that day.

Jack went to the Big Innit Hotel build site. Neither Tommy nor Sam Nook was available.

* * *

Jack decided to invite Niki to go Netherite mining with him. She agreed, happily discussing more plans on how to kill Tommy.

"Maybe we kill him here? How does that sound?" They were setting beds.

Jack's scarred skin felt chills despite the Nether's heat, shivering for every explosion.

When did the Nether get so Goddamn scary?

"I would love to see that son of a bitch burn in lava," He took a while to reply.

Lava hurt. It, for better or for worse, also took way too long at its job.

"Are you alright, Jack?" She gave him a look of concern, "You've been shaking the whole time we've been here."

"Me? Shaking?"

She took his hand.

_Fuck, she was right._

"If you want to stop, we can head out now,"

"We haven't gotten any Netherite yet, Niki."

"Hmm," She paused to think.

Niki dyed her hair pink for Doomsday. When he came back, he noticed her hair had continued to blow in the wind like a bonfire. There was a diamond-blue glow from her eyes and gestures, made even brighter by that dark tattered coat she looked so pretty in. She said she took it off of Wilbur's corpse, believing she had the fire to keep it warm.

Jack personally agreed. A badass, tattered coat was best worn by someone who knows how to be alive.

"I can get them. You go back," Niki then hesitated.

"A-and then what?"

"Just go to my base, Jack."

"Niki-"

"I can tell you don't want to be here, Jack," She raised her voice to be able to cut him off, "i-if you don't mind, we can talk about it when I get back."

Jack huffed, "Well, I suppose I could do some...errands, b-before I get there."

He meant to say that he would do something for Niki but decided against saying it.

He left the spot by digging out a tunnel, coming out to the sight of the Nether Hub and its paths several blocks away.

He jumped at being shot at, jumping more violently when he locked eyes at who shot at him.

"Schlatt?"

"Get off my fucking property!"

Schlatt, or Glatt, more accurately, stood on top of what appeared to be a dirt building covered in signs, crossbow (that was clearly gifted to him) in hand.

"Jesus Christ, I didn't know you lived here!"

Glatt was a ghost devoid of color, eyes as blank as the dead, and clothes both well-kept and tattered somehow. Every visible orifice leaked that same lapis lazuli shade, matching the red of Schlatt's broken horns, hooves, and necktie very well. He dripped as though he died drowning (and he did drown, albeit figuratively).

"Well, sure." The ghost then jumped onto Jack's level, reclining at the structure's wall, "When you get forcefully summoned, you apparently have to come back and haunt every now and then. How funny."

Jack decided to near the ghost, "You didn't want to come back?"

"I had nothing to come back for," Glatt pulled out a cigarette, puffing out an unholy combination of ectoplasm, smoke, and some goo that matched the color of Ghostbur's Blue. He chuckled, " _No one_ to come back for..."

"Then what was that party about?" Jack came on that day to the aftermath of said party. He had no idea what went on during it.

"I don't know, ask Connor!" The ghost snarked back, "Though, I do appreciate his effort to try and bring me back."

"Must be lonely,"

"Yeah," Glatt smiled, "Connor and I go way back, y'know. Think that Techno and Philza guy, but replace terrorism with white-collar crimes."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Glatt then threw his cigarette into the lava, "Now that he's here, I may have a reason to stay. Oh! A-And Charlie too. We had a thing going before this SMP even existed! Heard he's here now, or something."

"Yeah, I think he's the new guy in the server. Tubbo showed him around Snowchester."

The ghost laughed, "God, the name of that place is so Goddamn stupid!"

He then eyed Jack, "So, uh, how's the nuke testing?"

Jack sighed in frustration, "Didn't work."

"What went wrong?"

"...timing."

"Aw," Glatt pitied in a mocking tone. "You still got it, big guy! I believe in you!"

"Are you mocking me?"

"Sure," Snickering, "Doesn't mean I don't want you to give up though."

"Is that so?"

"Well, you didn't crawl out of Hell for nothing, right?"

* * *

"Thank you so much, Jack!" Niki smiled as she took a bite of her slice of pumpkin pie, "You bake very well."

"Eh, every crafting recipe's the same. Can't be too hard to follow."

Niki and Jack were outside of the secret base, sitting on the grass, looking at the stars while eating pumpkin pie.

Jack had made pumpkin pie for Niki and himself before heading towards the secret base. Niki managed to get lucky and mine enough Netherite for the both of them.

Jack wondered how their shared anger made them bond this way. Then again, he never quite had anything against Niki. She's a woman as broken as he is.

_No,_ his mind lit up, _she can still save herself._

_Niki knows just as much as you do about what Tommy did, starting all the unnecessary conflict in the server._

_No, Tommy isn't the cause of all the conflicts in the server,_ he kept thinking, _but he sure as hell keeps them going. God, no wonder Dream got so fixated on him! At least Dream has the decency to admit that he likes dragging on conflict._

He looked at Niki's weary eyes, her gaze towards the night sky.

_Tommy doesn't know how to correctly fight for peace. Fuck him for that._

Jack tried to get another pie slice, but then he decided not to.

_I can't believe that little disc fight of theirs had to implicate all of us._

_Sure, Tommy winning meant freedom for everyone, but why did it have to be for discs? Why must Tommy's attachments be so fucking **small**?_

_L'Manburg died for those discs. Wilbur's attachments for Tommy's? Yeah yeah yeah._

_How could those two even love each other? How do they still respect each other?_

_Like, Tommy's still doing shit for Wilbur? After implicating everything? Everyone?_

_They think they're so high and mighty!_

_At least Wilbur knew when to give up._ _Unfortunately, Tommy fucking doesn't._

_For L'Manburg, everyone's peace! For the discs, everyone's peace..._

"Jack?" Niki quickly looked at him.

_For their happiness and freedom, I have given up my hope for Heaven._

"Yeah, Niki?" He croaked out, not realizing the bright embers coming out of his tear ducts.

_God, I'm fucking doomed!_

"Come here," She gestured him into an embrace, "it's okay."

_I'm never gonna get peace ever again..._

Jack sobbed and accepted, clutching onto Niki's coat. She then began to sob too.

The warmth was nice, their individual fires doing quite the job together.

As they let go, Jack caught a phenomenon in his sights.

"Niki, look! Up there!"

"Oh!" She caught it just in time, "A falling star!"

"Pretty, huh?"

"Yeah," She smiled weakly at the sight of it.

"To be like those shooting stars, Niki. Wouldn't it be nice to be cherished just a little? One blink and you're gone, yeah, but at least people would value you."

"I get what you mean," She replied, nodding.

Jack wiped off the cinders on his face, "I'm telling you, Niki. When we get Tommy, we'll be like that falling star."

"You mean _you'll_ be that falling star?" Niki glanced at her promise ring, aglow in the night light, "I intend to stay and cherish my peace, Jack."

"Of course, of course." He envied just how well Niki knew how to live, "Call me a bolide, Niki. I am so Goddamn ready to explode."

"What's a bolide?"

"I think it's one of them exploding meteors? I dunno, but I encountered the word from a book once."

"Hmm," Niki reached to get more pie, "it suits you."

"Yeah?"

"Jack Manifold—the bolide, the falling star!" Niki nodded at the idea, "It's very cool. I ought to remember you that way."

Jack Manifold proceeded to cry again.


End file.
